Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the SailNet Community forums, you must first register. Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.Please note: After entering 3 characters a list of Usernames already in use will appear and the list will disappear once a valid Username is entered.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Click here to view the posting rules you are bound to when clicking the'Submit Reply' button below

Topic Review (Newest First)

06-13-2015 03:05 PM

hijan1

Re: Moisture around chainplates

Screws in my Islander 30-2 as well. I just packed the butyl really hard around the chainplate with a screwdriver before putting the covering plate back on. I read that some people elevate the deck around the chainplate opening with epoxy a bit. That sounded like a good idea to me but just packing with butyl tape did the job in my boat. Cheers Jan

Bert (or others):
How are the chainplate deck plates attached to the deck? Are they through-bolted or screwed in?
Thanks

Screws in my I28. Just resting in rotted deck wood in some cases. Butyl tape sealed the deck leaks this winter & will use again for proper repairs this summer. Note that a heat gun softens up the tape so it can be used as a putty to press into crevices and screw holes.

06-13-2015 12:58 PM

hijan1

Re: Moisture around chainplates

Hi, I second Butyl tape. Amazon has cream colored tape that I find easier to work with than the one from Home depot and such. Actually, I find it is a breeze to work with compared to 4200 and such. Cheers Jan

07-18-2013 08:54 AM

nestorph

Re: Moisture around chainplates

Bert (or others):
How are the chainplate deck plates attached to the deck? Are they through-bolted or screwed in? You'll save me time digging past the headliner if they're just screws.
Thanks

The chain plates on the Islander Bahama 30 are known to leak on a regular basis. I lift the small deck plates every spring and re-bed them with a Sikaflex sealer. I have also used 3M5200 but it's a real bear to get off if they ever leak again. And there is enough flexing with the chainplates when sailing that they will leak again. Same as the windows! If the chainplates have been leaking a long time the interior bulkheads will be stained where the water has run down the plate and into the bolt holes, getting under the varnish. The deck is plywood cored and unless the leak has been going on for years, should be good.

Bert Vermeer
s/v Natasha
Sidney, BC

07-14-2013 01:27 PM

gknott

Re: Moisture around chainplates

A warning to I-28 owners and possibly others. The fiberglass-covered plywood partial bulkhead to which the forward starboard chain plate is attached is exposed to deck leakage around its chain plate. It can be completely rotted away inside the fiberglass coating with no indication of the problem from probing the exposed edge of the plywood you see inside the head cabinet. Also the bottom shelf of the head cabinet is structural, tabbed to the hull and bulkhead, and is also part of the head countertop. If this area has any rot, then it is likely that the chainplate attachment is compromised.

I spotted all this when I sighted down my hull from the dock and saw that there was a 24" long vertical inward dimple developing which corresponded exactly to where the chainplate partial bulkhead was tabbed to the hull. Although the tabbing and deck was preventing vertical failure, the rotted cabinet/countertop and bulkhead had allowed the entire chainplate structure to move inward as the rotted plywood deformed. It was taking the hull in with it. When I drilled into the fiberglass covering the chainplate attachment I found that the plywood had basically departed. Fortunately Islander builds stout boats and the fiberglass covering the plywood chainplate bulkhead is about 1/4" thick on both sides and well attached to the hull. My fix? I removed all the rotten wood including the cabinet shelves and what I could reach in the chainplate attachment after drilling 1" holes through its fiberglass covering and pulling out the rotted wood. I replaced the cabinet shelves/head countertop and tabbed them back to the hull. This sealed the bottom of the now empty chainplate bulkhead which I dried internally using a heat gun and acetone (NOT SIMULTANEOUSLY!) and then injected epoxy paste to refill it.

Fellow I-28 owners, please check your forward starboard chainplate attachment - the one in the head cabinet - because it may not be as strong as you think. Drilling a small hole from the side may be the only way because my exposed edge was solid for about 1" in before it disintegrated. Which leads me to wonder what's going on under all that vinyl on the port side? Does anybody know what that looks like?

03-20-2013 02:37 AM

510datsun

Re: Moisture around chain plates

I would make sure silicone has never been used, silicone won't seal with gel coat. If silicone has been used, sand the area until all silicone is removed, water will not bead up on the surface.

I use butyl tape under the small plate, in the hull cutout sealing the actual chain plate between the hull plate and chain plate. The butyl tape has very good properties for stretching and maintaining a water tight seal. Butyl tape remains pliable as when applied even 20 years later. I have re-bedded all my deck hardware, and stanchions with butyl tape. Using butyl tape is time consuming, can't get it on threads of bolts or screws, so needs to be placed on accurately, but you will only have to do it once for most likely as long as you own your boat.

My boat use to leak at the chain plate and numerous deck hardware locations where silicone, 4200, and who knows what else on my 1976 Islander 28, but now I'm leak free. I owe it all to this guys website and source for buying the right stuff!!

He is also a member here on the forum, but I can't remember his user name. I did all my thru hulls as he recommends on his site, as well as the replacement of two of my port windows. I also used the "sealing Deck Penetrations" on a problem area replacing a hatch.

Always more then, "one way to skin a cat", mine is just one.

Good Luck

01-27-2013 02:35 PM

bvermeer

Re: Moisture around chainplates

The chain plates on the Islander Bahama 30 are known to leak on a regular basis. I lift the small deck plates every spring and re-bed them with a Sikaflex sealer. I have also used 3M5200 but it's a real bear to get off if they ever leak again. And there is enough flexing with the chainplates when sailing that they will leak again. Same as the windows! If the chainplates have been leaking a long time the interior bulkheads will be stained where the water has run down the plate and into the bolt holes, getting under the varnish. The deck is plywood cored and unless the leak has been going on for years, should be good.

Bert Vermeer
s/v Natasha
Sidney, BC

01-23-2013 07:53 PM

Gary M

Re: Moisture around chainplates

It should be fairly obvious if your bulkhead is getting wet. Important to at least stop your chain plates from leaking any more.
When I got my boat the previous owner had used silicon adhesive at the deck junction. Very bad idea. I had to sand all traces of it away before I could seal it properly with 3M 4200.
At that time I cut out the inner skin and removed the wet balsa on both sides and re-glassed which of course meant taking the chain plates out. I also had to replace the Starboard bulkhead, now I keep a close eye on it since the chain plates tend to move but so far the 4200 is doing a good job.

01-23-2013 05:50 PM

rhr1956

Re: Moisture around chainplates

I don't know about I-30 boats. Do the chainplates attach to the hull or do they attach to interior bulkheads. If they attach to the bulkheads, the same water that effected the wood core could also have gotten into the wood bulkhead. I'm replacing a bad bulkhead currently on my boat. Not much fun.

01-23-2013 03:59 PM

nestorph

Moisture around chainplates

My boat surveyor commented that the moisture levels around the chainplates were higher than the rest of the deck where the levels were considered normal. Is this typical on an I-30? I don't sense this is a matter of major concern but was wondering if there are pre-emptive measures that can be taken to minimize further deterioration. Would re-bedding around the chainplates suffice? Has anyone addressed something similar?
Thanks
Nestor